Feeding Fido Raw Pet Food a Risky Choice: FDA Doing so raises risk of food poisoning

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Originally Posted by last5oh_302

There have been a whack of dry food recalls due to salmonella over the years.

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Which tells you only that events occur. It doesn't tell you how common those events actually are.

How many lots of commercial kibble have been produced "over the years?" And how many lots have been recalled? You'll need both numbers to have any kind of idea of the prevalence of salmonella in kibble. And you should have numbers a little more precise that "a whack." Pointing to a relatively small number of well-publicized events doesn't really prove anything.

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Originally Posted by last5oh_302

Curiously, according to the FDA, the only pet foods during that two-year sampling period that turned up positive for bacteria were commercial raw pet foods. According to their study results, out of 196 samples of raw food tested, 15 were positive for salmonella, and 32 were positive for Listeria monocytogenes. But out of the 860 samples of processed foods -- including “dry exotic” pet food, jerky treats, semi-moist dog and cat food, and dry dog and cat food -- just one lonely sample showed positive for bacteria. Just one.

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There's nothing "curious" or "miraculous" about that result.

It's unfortunate that Dr. Becker has earned a DVM without apparently learning anything about statistics, and equally unfortunate that she resorts to suggesting that the study is dishonest. Of course, the fact that she works for Mercola suggests she has an axe to grind. But neither of those things changes the result. A random sample finds a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of salmonella and listeria.

You can, of course, do with that fact what you will.

The problem (as I see it) with this conversation is that the comparisons are all based on raw commercial prepared pet foods. I know a lot of people that feed their dogs a raw meats based diet and almost all of them buy meats sold for human consumption. The same foods that we would eat ourselves.
BTW - I feed kibble so no axe to grind here

Read a chart in my vet's office yesterday outlining info about various ingredients in pet foods. One of the facts in it about raw diets was that of those tested, both commercial and home made, 95% were lacking in at least one nutritient. It also stated the importance of hygene when preparing a raw diet in order to prevent bacteria.
I was also interested in what it had listed as by-products in commercial foods and the importance of grains in a dog's diet.
There was no major advertising on it so I'm not sure who put it out. Will where my glasses when I go in today so I can read the fine print.

Yep it's the commercial raw foods they test and the FDA won't disclose which ones they tested or how they handled these foods as stated by them in a reply in one of the links I posted.

Either way In the 30 odd years I've been preparing burgers or chicken for myself I haven't had any issues. I'm buying the meat for my dog from better places than I buy meat for myself. The meat at these places is too expensive for me so I only buy it for myself as a treat. Lol

I feed kibble as well btw, but I feel I've been missing out on the benefits of raw with my previous pooches so I will be feeding it part time.

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Originally Posted by C.A. in TO

The problem (as I see it) with this conversation is that the comparisons are all based on raw commercial prepared pet foods. I know a lot of people that feed their dogs a raw meats based diet and almost all of them buy meats sold for human consumption. The same foods that we would eat ourselves.

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This is true, but of course we all know to be cautious when handling raw chicken due to the prevalence of salmonella in chicken. We cook our chicken, which kills off the salmonella. Not so much when we feed that same chicken raw.

There is, of course, a difference between the occurrence of salmonella in a sample of food and the rate of illness in dogs fed that food. If those things corresponded 1:1 then a dog fed raw would get sick several times a year.

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Originally Posted by last5oh_302

Either way In the 30 odd years I've been preparing burgers or chicken for myself I haven't had any issues. I'm buying the meat for my dog from better places than I buy meat for myself. The meat at these places is too expensive for me so I only buy it for myself as a treat. Lol

I feed kibble as well btw, but I feel I've been missing out on the benefits of raw with my previous pooches so I will be feeding it part time.

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Ditto...

Tonight we're having Lamb Stew meat (Kabobs) and the lads will be eating Minced (ground) Lamb with their kibble.... The wife (a medical professional) insists I 'brown' the meat for them :)

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...psa16305c7.jpg

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Originally Posted by welsh

Which tells you only that events occur. It doesn't tell you how common those events actually are.

How many lots of commercial kibble have been produced "over the years?" And how many lots have been recalled? You'll need both numbers to have any kind of idea of the prevalence of salmonella in kibble. And you should have numbers a little more precise that "a whack." Pointing to a relatively small number of well-publicized events doesn't really

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What it tells me is that the FDA misses a lot. Those whack of publicized events are only the ones that were actually caught or recalled voluntarily.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

Ditto...

Tonight we're having Lamb Stew meat (Kabobs) and the lads will be eating Minced (ground) Lamb with their kibble.... The wife (a medical professional) insists I 'brown' the meat for them :)

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...psa16305c7.jpg

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Yum! Do the lads prefer it browned? Lol

Some say you can't feed raw and kibble at the same time due to different digestive rates. I tend to disagree since a lot of people have been feeding their dogs this way without issue.

I say feed what you want but I just don't understand the raw movement. A lot of folks who feed it say its more natural and is closer to what they would eat in the wild.... The only problem with that is that its not - they wouldn't be in the wild in the first place. Our dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years (if not more). While they may have descended from wolves and other wild canids the fact of the matter is that the dogs that we know and love are nothing like them - nor do they have the same diet requirements. The domestic dog has changed drastically in appearance, behavior, and dietary needs. If you want to feed raw then go for it, but make sure you're doing it for the right reason and not because its more natural because you don't own a wolf.

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Originally Posted by last5oh_302

What it tells me is that the FDA misses a lot.

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No such conclusion is supportable on the basis of the evidence.

If you make a practice of eating raw chicken from the grocery store, you are going to get sick with salmonella, campylobacter or listeria. This is a certainty -- even people who sell chicken for a living acknowledge it. When your conviction that kibble is riddled with salmonella collides with the results of sampling that shows otherwise, this is a good indication that you ought to discard your conviction. It should not be hard to accept that the incidence of salmonella in raw foods is higher than in kibble.